


Bold as love

by allofspace



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Fluff fluff and more fluff, M/M, Minor Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, arguably OOC dean but like..in a cracky way so what do you want from me, finale fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29122185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofspace/pseuds/allofspace
Summary: Dean is a little ecstatic when Cas comes back, after not being able to get his words out after Cas' confession. He wants to shout from the rooftops about his new relationship.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	Bold as love

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to greenteaduck for always being willing to look over my work!!! <3

“I love you,” Cas says through a teary eyed smile. 

“Don’t do this, Cas,” Dean says, but it’s not what he wants to say. He just needs a second but Death is literally banging on the door. And he knows something even worse is about to happen. It happens all too quickly, and it feels like he’s moving and thinking in slow motion. 

“No!” he yells at the wall. But Cas is gone. The words he never got to say are burning in his chest. 

~*~

When Jack brings everyone back, Dean yells for Cas. He runs through the bunker halls, checking every room, hoping to see Cas sitting on the edge of a bed, or standing and looking at a book or a painting with his tilted head and a confused expression on his face. But every room is empty. 

He returns to his own room, falling to his knees. He prays to Cas then. “Please Cas, where are you? I love you. I promise I love you more than I thought possible, I have for so long and --” 

Dean cuts himself off at the familiar fluttering sound of Cas appearing. Dean stands and turns around, steeling himself. 

Cas’ face is unreadable and deadpan. They stare at each other silently for a moment. “Is that true?” Cas says, face breaking into something soft and worry lines crease his forehead. 

“Yes,” Dean breathes. He takes a step toward Cas. “Yes, I just never thought… I never thought you could love me back. I thought I was wrong, that everything about me was wrong.”

“Well you were wrong…” Cas says, knitting his brows in concentration. Then, “About me not being able to love you.” His face smooths out into something else. With a small smile on his lips he closes the gap to Dean. He places a hand on Dean’s cheek, and Dean can't tell if his heart is beating out of his chest or if it’s stopped beating altogether. Then he grabs Cas by the lapel and kisses him hard and Cas is not surprised, but ready. His hand slides up into Dean’s hair and he pushes his body closer to Dean’s, arms moving again to slip around his waist and back. 

And that’s when Sam runs in. “Dean? Woah!” he says as he rounds the corner and instantly covers his eyes. 

“Um, sorry,” he stammers and Dean has thought about something like this happening for so long. He was never sure how we’d feel but whatever is bubbling in his chest isn’t what he’d expected. 

Dean laughs. He throws his head back and laughs until Sam drops his hands and starts to look concerned for Dean instead 

“Uh, is everything okay?” Sam asks.

“Yes,” Cas says. 

“Cas,” Sam says, as if just remembering Cas is back from the dead. He walks over and pulls him into a strong but brief hug. “It’s good to see you.”

Dean has levelled off, and lets out a sigh. “Everything is beyond okay, Sammy. Me and Cas are… together,” he says easily after a moment’s consideration. “Castiel, angel of the lord is my… boyfriend.” He says it as if he’s trying out the word, and he sort of is. It fits, Dean thinks, and he likes it. He grins as he throws an arm over Cas’ shoulder and watches Sam’s face as he can practically see the gears grinding to a halt and stuttering as they try to figure out how to turn again. 

“Right,” Sam says finally. As if he’s decided to act like everything is absolutely normal and he has no questions. He’s still standing there, not sure what to do next so Dean helps him out. 

“Cas and I have some… catching up to do. We’ll meet up for dinner in like an hour okay?”

“Sure,” Sam says, then walks out the door. Dean closes it behind him and returns to Cas, pulling him toward the bed. “Where were we?”

“Right here,” Cas says, pulling Dean back into a kiss. 

~*~ 

When Dean and Cas resurface, Sam has made dinner. He coughs uncomfortably seeing Cas’s messy hair and rumpled state but doesn’t comment on it. 

“So have you talked to Eileen?” Dean asks. 

They’re sitting at the table, Dean and Cas close enough so their elbows graze and touch as they eat. 

“Yeah,” Sam says, as he clears his throat. He’d been staring at Dean and Cas with that gear-turning sort of look again, but the question snaps him out of it. “She’s fine, good actually. I’m going to head over there tonight. Maybe we can all meet up for breakfast in the morning.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Dean says. 

“The place with the good pancakes,” Cas says. 

“Sure,” Sam says. 

“You bet,” Dean says as well, and wraps a hand over Cas’s to give it a small squeeze. 

Dean offers to do the dishes, which also shocks Sam, but he’s happy to have a moment alone with Cas. He asks about Jack and Cas assures him everything is fine, and he doesn’t ask about the Empty but tells Cas he can always talk to him if he needs to. 

“I’m good,” Cas says with an air of tranquility. 

Sam wanders over to Dean while Cas looks for a movie to watch. 

“So, you and Cas,” Sam says, wincing inwardly at the abruptness. Usually something like that would make Dean bristle visibly. Instead he sees Dean's mouth curl up into a smile. 

“I know, right? I maybe forgot to tell you the whole part about him confessing his love for me right before the Empty sucked him up,” Dean says. 

“Wait, what?” Sam asks more seriously. 

“Well, it’s not like telling you about it would have helped. To have that whole awkward conversation and still not even have Cas at the end of it? Not worth it,” he says as if this was completely obvious and made total sense. 

“Woah,” Sam says though he has a million questions. “I never thought… I thought you guys always just had this unspoken thing that we were all supposed to ignore.”

“What do you mean? Did you know how I...? You couldn’t have known that he... ,” Dean struggles to get out anything coherent. “If you had an inkling about how he felt and didn’t tell me, I will kill you,” Dean finally says. 

Sam doesn’t have the heart to tell him that everyone who met them knew, and thought they were being purposefully ignorant, aside from the several angelic and demonic entities who absolutely did point it out and who Dean chose to ignore. 

“Right well, I’m going to go to Eileen’s,” Sam says, avoiding the topic. “Have… fun,” Sam says, uncomfortable at the thought of what that might mean. 

~*~

The next morning they get to the diner a little ahead of schedule. Dean has an arm around Cas and the waitress who greets them looks a little surprised but the look passes quickly, and is covered with the usual bland indifference. 

“My boyfriend and I would like a booth please,” Dean says, emphasizing the word ‘boyfriend’. It feels like a jolt to the chest whenever he says it. 

“For four. We’re waiting on some friends,” Cas adds. 

The waitress waves an arm at the abundance of empty booths for their choosing. Dean lets Cas pick the booth and the waitress brings them the menus.

Dean makes sure to cozy up beside Cas instead of across from him, arm still slung around his shoulder. “Two coffees. Extra sugar for my boyfriend please,” he says, emphasizing the word again. 

“Your boyfriend,” she says with matching emphasis, but with additional confusion, like she’s playing a game but doesn’t know the rules, “is lucky the sugar is self-serve.” She nods to the sugar shaker, which Dean of course knew existed but just wanted to keep finding things to talk about. 

She leaves and Dean tells Cas, “I’m the lucky one,” in a low voice that makes Cas gulp and his cheeks burn. 

The waitress brings them coffees and waters and Sam and Eileen join them shortly after.

“Cas and I are together,” Dean announces proudly to Eileen after the waitress has come back to take their orders. 

Eileen smiles but seems like she’s suppressing a bigger grin. “Yes, Sam told me,” she says. “I’m happy for you both.” 

The waitress brings their food. “Excuse me, we’re missing the syrup for --” Dean starts. 

“Your boyfriend, yes, one moment,” the waitress says wryly. 

Sam leans over to Eileen and Dean thinks he hears “I told you” but doesn’t dwell on it. 

Dean digs into his food but can tell there’s something Sam isn’t saying. He waits though, not wanting to pry. He’s still well versed in pretending problems don’t exist.

Sam waits for Dean to eat two big bites before saying, “So I think I figured something out… and I don’t know how you’re going to take it.”

Dean stops chewing, staring at Sam suspiciously. He gulps his food down, then takes a sip of coffee. “What?” he asks finally. 

“I think… whatever Jack did. I mean Chuck got rid of everyone… everything… and when Jack brought everyone back. Well, there’s no monsters. At least, not for now. Who knows if it’ll last but… there’s nothing. No weird occurrences, none of the usual signs, it’s… silent.”

Dean stares at Sam. “And? What’s the bad news?” he says taking another bite of food. 

“That… well it’s not bad news I guess, it’s just… what will you… what will we do?”

Dean chuckles. “I’ve got plenty of ideas in mind,” he says throwing a wink at Cas. Cas pretends not to see and instead watches Sam’s cheeks redden.

“Has he still been like this all morning?” Sam asks Cas, even though he obviously knows the answer.

“Yes,” Cas replies deadpan. “I find it endearing but I’m not sure if that will last.”

Dean laughs to himself at that, taking another big sip of coffee. 

“Look, Sam, if there’s no more monsters. We’re off the hook. We can find other things to do, and you two,” Dean says, gesturing at Sam and Eileen, “can finally have your apple pie white picket fence life, if that’s what you want. And if monsters show up again… I don’t know, maybe it’s someone else’s problem,” he says with a shrug. 

“Wow,” Sam says. “That’s… I never thought I’d hear you say that. But… okay. Uh, cool.”

“I’m not going to waste any more time,” Dean says, though he’s only talking to Cas now. It would make Sam gag and roll his eyes if it wasn’t so sincere and a little astonishing to watch. 

It’s the little moments, in between Dean’s boasting and showy admiration, that make Cas flush red. It’s these moments that make Cas inexplicably happy for the deal he’d made with the Empty. Could this have happened any other way? In any other version, would he have been brave enough to tell Dean? He didn’t think so. It hurt that Jack wasn’t with them anymore but Cas had a more direct line than the others did. He could feel Jack there, like pulling a string and feeling tension, knowing someone is tied to the other end, which would have to be enough.

Cas kisses Dean then, which does make Sam groan and Eileen giggle.

The waitress appears to refill their coffee and sideyes Dean, but he’s out of words for now, content with sitting in the atmosphere feeling a sense of peace for possibly the first time in his life. 

He thinks of a future where monsters reappear, where he wouldn’t hunt anymore but maybe he and Cas would own a bar like the Roadhouse, a place where Hunters could go and they could keep their eye on things, but not get too involved. Where they could still help but have their own life. It could be the real Rocky’s Bar, he thought wryly. 

Or maybe they’d go somewhere off the grid and just be alone together. Dean had done enough for humanity hadn’t he? Maybe they’d learn how to build a cabin or something, and camp in a tent under the stars until it was finished. 

The best part was he didn’t have to decide right now, and the possibilities felt endless. He squeezed Cas’s thigh under the table and Cas covered Dean’s hand with his own, interlacing their fingers. This was all Dean needed for right now.


End file.
